Joshua vs Franklin goes haywire

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Anthony Joshua threw his fists against Jermaine Franklin yesterday for the first time since last August. The Brit rides the expected comeback victory against his compatriot and underdog. The fight at London’s O2 Arena isn’t exactly spectacular, it only heats up after the final gong in the 12th round.

What can’t be seen on the live TV footage: Joshua hits his opponent on the back of the head after the fight, Franklin doesn’t take it and hits back. While still in the ring, the two fighters attack each other and can only be separated with difficulty.

Joshua’s friend attacks trainer

While Joshua and Franklin piss each other off, Joshua’s friend and ex-pro boxer Tony Bellew stands right next to Franklin’s team. Footage shows Bellew having to be taken away by guards at the last second before lunging at a member of the Franklin team. Another fight can be prevented by a hair.

“I Would Have Been Ready”

The grumpy Bellew explains: “As a trainer you can’t attack the opponent’s boxer, you can’t, but he wanted to. I then said to him, ‘come on, we’ll take care of it here’. I was expecting a right hand , would have been ready. But he didn’t want to. Someone from his team then apologized for his behavior.”

It’s Joshua’s first win in 840 days. Before the victory against Franklin, the Brit had defeated Bulgarian Kubrat Pulew Ko on December 12, 2020. He then lost the WBA, WBO and IBF belts to Alexander Usyk in September 2021 and also lost in last August’s rematch.

After everyone involved had calmed down, ex-world champion Joshua WBC titleholder Tyson Fury made another announcement. “The ball is now his, I would be honored to fight for his world title. We are not getting any younger.” (par)

Source : Blick